Wednesday, November 26, 2014

FTDNA sure came up with a way to entertain for the next 5 weeks those of us who are DNA junkies. The introduction of the Mystery Reward to the sale is a game changer. If gives us a chance to open our presents (Mystery Reward) discount codes before Christmas -- actually every week. Now the tactical planning can begin. The currently available Mystery Rewards expire Sunday night.

Apparently they come in 11 categories as Angela Robertson reported on the ISOGG Facebook site: "There
are supposed to be 11 kinds of coupon codes. I have identified 10 of those 11
so far. (I don't have all these, but have been tabulating from posts I've
seen.) Anyone know which one is missing?"

Now the tactics for a winning holiday genetic genealogy season quickly are coming to the fore. Since you will be offered a new Mystery Reward each week until the end of December, should you wait and hope for a "better" discount? Should you use the discount code you have before it expires on Sunday night? Should you give it to a family member or friend? Should you offer it to a fellow genetic genealogist? The codes are transferable but have a limited life. A secondary marked has already erupted on Facebook.

If your Mystery Reward is not showing up on your MyFTDNA page you probably need to clear the cache of your browser and try again. That worked for me.

ySEQ

Another holiday sale appeared yesterday from Thomas and Astrid Krahn:

YSeq has also announced that all its extensive catalog of tests for individual yDNA SNPs are on sale for $19 per test. This sale is scheduled to end on December 3rd.

Join in the fun. No Black Friday sale has excited me like this in years.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

This morning the 2014 Holiday Sale is being unveiled on the FTDNA site. Everyone likes a sale; and this is a very comprehensive one -- with a twist thrown in to add to the excitement. Below is what the company has to say:

​We’re
launching the long-awaited Holiday Sale and we wanted you to be the first to
know! It will extend through Dec. 31, 2014 (11:59 PM Central).The reduced prices will either be visible at 10:00 AM Central or very
shortly afterwards.

For this holiday season we’ve got
an exciting new twist to the sale - Mystery Reward discounts!
The Mystery Reward will be a randomized discount (up to $100 off)
that can be applied on top of the already reduced Holiday Sale
prices. The Mystery Reward icon will
appear on testers’ myFTDNA dashboard each week and the code will expire the
night before the next Mystery Reward appears. When you click
the icon, you'll to go to the reward page to open the Mystery Reward for
savings up to $100. We’ll also send an email notification to the kit’s primary
email address when a new code is available for use or sharing.Best of all, there will be a new Mystery Reward
every week. Customers can use the discount or can share it with a friend.
In addition, all customers who
have purchased the Big Y test will receive a coupon for $50 off a Big Y test.

That's ON TOP of the sale
price. Yes, you read that right. A coupon that can be used on top of a sale
price. The coupon can also be "regifted," meaning shared with a
friend or fellow project member.Here are the prices:

Dr. D wonders if 23andMe and Ancestry will follow with offers of their own? They are really only in competition on FTDNA's Family Finder test. Neither 23andMe or Ancestry offer yDNA or mtDNA testing. Rumor has it that Ancestry may offer something on Black Friday.